trips with her husband, take ….

trips with her husband, take day trips with her friends, organize and declutter at home and maybe get back into golfing. She feels very fortunate to have been able to work in our school district for the past 10.5 years. She did home daycare for 27 years and worked with very young children before she was hired to be a substitute assistant. When she was hired to be the assistant at the Alternative High, she found that she had a heart for high school kids as well. She has learned a lot over the years and is very grateful for the opportunity to work at a job that she has loved.

Sue Johnas has worked as a part-time night custodian at SES for 6 years. She is married to Joe and they have been married for 28 years. He is retired. She has 1 son, 1 daughter, 5 grandchildren, 5 stepchildren, 7 step- grandchildren and 1 step-great grandchild. What Sue likes best about her job was being a night custodian. What she will miss the most are the children and the staff. What she liked the least about her job was unflushed toilets. What she will miss the least is driving home after work in a blizzard. Her advice to coworkers is to smile and be kind. It will go a long way! Retirement plans are to do some traveling, spending time with her family, time at their cabin and some R & R.

Laurie Keefe has worked in education for 36 years; all of those years in Medford and at MAMS where she is a Grade 6 Teacher. She is married to Rob and they have been married 34 years. He is in sales at Heinzen Printing. They have four children. Katie, who is married to Evan Friedl and they have a baby boy on the way. They live in La Crescent, MN. Sam, who is married to Jimmy Jochimsen and they have two children, Everett, 3.5 and Emmett, 1.5. They live in Chippewa Falls. John, who is married to Kynnie and they have two children, Kash, 2, and Kohen, 6 months old. They live in Athens. Connor lives in Medford. What she likes best about her job are the students and interacting with them in their day-to-day lessons and activities in her classroom. She also enjoys the staff at the middle school over the past 36 years with lots of laughter, sarcasm and good times. What she will miss the most is talking with her classroom neighbor, Mr. Shipman. What she liked the least was late work. What she will miss the least is PLC. Laurie’s advice to colleagues is to find the “fun” in your subject area so that when you teach, the students will not even know that they are learning because they are enjoying your lessons and you! Make connections, stay consistent and enjoy doing your job; this will make for a positive experience for you, your students and colleagues. Good Luck! In retirement she plans are to just enjoy doing whatever she wants to do, whenever she wants to do it! She has thoroughly enjoyed teaching 6th grade for the past 36 years! It was an AWESOME job!

Stacy Leonard has worked in education for 33 years; 31 years in Medford and all at MAES. She also worked in Greenwood, WI and Clear Lake, IA. She is currently a Kindergarten Teacher. She is married to Al and they have been married for 32 years. He was a math teacher and the middle school Principal until his retirement last year. He currently fills his days with ‘grandpa duties’, subbing at MAMS or various ‘honey -do’ tasks. They have been blessed with three amazing children. Their oldest son, Andrew is pursuing a degree in funeral directing. He and his lovely wife, Cassandra, have a beautiful, 2-year old, puddle-jumping, bubble-blowing daughter named Clarice. Their second son, Joel, currently teaches high school math at MASH and has a longtime girlfriend, Hannah, from Minnesota. Their daughter, Leah will soon be pursuing an advanced degree in school counseling and enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, Alex. What Stacy likes best about her job is that no two days are alike. The children are always excited to share experiences, learn new things and let their true personalities shine! Their innocence, energy and exuberance fuels my days! (It also wears me out sometimes!) To see how much they grow socially, emotionally and academically throughout the year is astounding! It is a privilege to have a ‘front row seat’ during this amazing part of their life. What she will miss the most is definitely the children and all of their funny stories, hugs, pictures and ‘love notes’ they share with her. She will miss reading aloud to her students and having them become completely captivated by a story. She will miss seeing their delight as they accomplish things they didn’t think they could do. Of course, she will also miss her amazing coworkers. She has been fortunate to have worked with so many caring, kind, dedicated professionals throughout the years. We’ve shared countless laughs, tears, frustrations and memories. She’ll be forever grateful for all of the love and support from her fabulous Kindergarten team and her whole MAES family! Her least favorite part of teaching has to be all of the busywork that comes with the job in order to stay a step ahead. There are always lessons and projects to prepare, documentations to record, reports to write, assessing to do, files to complete, papers to correct, bulletin boards to change, new technology to figure out and a mess of some sort to clean up. It’s a bit like laundry...never done! What she will miss the least are snow clothes! Getting a whole class of students ready for recess, (who are not yet great at zipping, tying or even choosing the correct foot for a boot) with snow pants, jackets, boots, hats, mittens (often with one missing!?!) It really should become an Olympic event! By the time they all get outside, they seem to come right back in and the chaos of undressing starts! Stacy’s advice to colleagues is #1.) The job you do is really hard! Teaching and assisting children of any age, who don’t understand just how much you want to help them be successful, is exhausting! People outside of the education world don’t always realize this, so lean on those who do! Your coworkers are a great resource of support and strength. Don’t try to carry the load alone! #2.) Remember, the big things in life are really the little things. An encouraging word, a helping hand or an unexpected surprise can go a long way.

Enjoy the little things that happen in your life and pass some along to your students and coworkers. #3.) Have a sense of humor! The ability to laugh through tough situations and at yourself is imperative. It might just be the key to sanity! Stacy’s retirement plans as of now, she is happy to say that she is on the ‘No Plan’ plan! However, going for walks with my hubby, completing some home projects, taking a few spontaneous trips, spending more time with my family, meeting up with old friends, reading on my deck and baking cookies with my granddaughter sounds pretty good! Stacy would like to extend her sincerest gratitude to all who have shared this journey with her. Aside from her family, she would like to thank all of the teachers, assistants, special education staff members, therapists, specialists, resource personnel, custodians, secretaries, administrators, cooks, bus drivers, nurses, classroom volunteers and school board members who she has had the privilege to know. It has been a pleasure to work with all of you throughout the years and she wishes you well!

Ronette Lehman has worked in education for 36 years; all in Medford and all at MASH. She is currently a sophomore Health Teacher & junior & senior Physical Education Teacher. She is married to Brian and they will be married for 33 years in June. He is a Senior Vice President Agricultural Lender at Partners Bank in Stratford. They have two children. Andrew, who lives in Medford, is a heavy equipment operator for James Peterson & Sons CO LLC. His fiancé is Samantha Meier. Chas, who resides in Eau Claire, is a graduate of UWEC and is an Account Manager for Viking Electric. What Ronette likes best is the opportunity to work with some amazing people and coworkers over the past 36 years. Everyday is a new day that brings about new challenges and every year is a new beginning to leave your imprint on the future. What she will miss the most is the interaction with the students and seeing their smiles of success as they accomplish what they once thought was unattainable. She will miss Mr. Sullivan’s back to school message as it reminds all of us what our purpose is and what really matters in life.... our family. What she will miss the least is being on a bell schedule and having about 20 minutes for lunch on most days. Her advice to colleagues is to take one day at a time, never take yourself too serious and hope that when your teaching career comes to an end, you left your class- room better than you found it. Ronette’s retirement plans are to golf at as many courses as possible and to spend time relaxing with her family and friends. She is thankful for all the administrators that she has worked with over the past 36 years and their unwavering support for her. She is also grateful for all the wonderful colleagues that she’s had the opportunity to work with and form life long friendships. Mostly, she’s been blessed to have an educationally supportive husband and family and for all of that she is truly grateful.

Gloria Lindahl has worked in the district for 23 years. She has worked at MAES & MAMS. She is currently a MAMS 9-month Attendance Secretary. She subbed one year in the kitchen and as an assistant before being hired. She is married to Steve and they have been married for 39 years. He is semi-retired. They have two daughters and one granddaughter. Angela Lindahl lives in Oshkosh. Heather is married to Doug Novak and they live in West DePere. They have one daughter, Lily. What Gloria likes best about her job is working with the kids. She will miss the staff she works with the most. What she likes least about her job are needy staff. She will miss finding subs last minute the least. Gloria’s retirement plan is to go to her cabin.

Dave Makovsky has worked in the district for 19 years as Director of Buildings & Grounds. He has one daughter, Kayla and she is married to Blake Britton. Three months ago, Dave became a grandpa for the first time. Kayla and Blake had a baby girl named Lilah May. They live in Wausau. What Dave likes the most about his job is the day to day challenges. Each day is different and always has new challenges to deal with and so the days go by fast! What he will miss the most is looking out for his employees but mostly the little, innocent students at the elementary level. They have such cute smiles and have no personal agenda. What he likes the least about his job is shoveling snow! What he will miss the least is winter. Dave’s advice to co-workers is to make sure you enjoy what you are doing as a career. When you do that, it’s less like a job and more like a place to go each day.

Jennifer Shipman has been in education for 32 years; 30 of those years in Medford. She also worked at Eau Claire Catholic Schools for two years. She worked at MAES, SES & MAMS. She is currently a Grade 8 Science Teacher. Over the years she worked for our Gifted/Talented program in Grades K-8, 7th grade Social Studies, 6th & 8th grade Science. She is married to Garett and they have been married for 26 years. Garett has been teaching 6th Grade for 30 years at MAMS. They have two children. Their daughter, Emily teaches Physical Education at the Colby Elementary School and she coaches various sports for Colby schools. She and her husband, Jordan, live in Marshfield. Their son, Cade, is finishing a neuroscience degree at UWEC and drumming whenever possible. What she likes best about her job is watching kids grow and learn, connecting with other educators and especially her fabulous co- workers! What she will miss the most is having fun with kids, being able to just sit and visit and getting to know them as individuals. She will also miss the many incredible staff in this district. What she likes least about her job is all the unnecessary busy work. Jennifer’s advice to colleagues is find your JOY, whatever it is and visit it often. Lean on each other, rely on each other and talk about what will make this profession better for staff and for kids. Her retirements plans are running their new 8th Street Gallery and Gift Shop in the Northwoods Plaza. Please stop by for a visit, relax, shop and sip! Working in education has been a great first career for her. Time to move on to other things!